Convertible bird house &amp; feeder

ABSTRACT

A conical shaped housing is provided with an internal partition dividing the housing into two chambers and formed with a central opening at its lower portion. A telescopic feeding tube is mounted to the base of the housing and in its lowered position serves as a perch and feeding station for birds when the housing is filled with seeds. The unit is converted into a bird house by emptying it of bird seed, pushing the feeding tube upwardly to close the partition opening and then removing cover plates from access openings formed in the sides of the housing. A movable lid is provided at the apex of the housing to permit feed to be poured into the housing and cooperates with a cutaway portion of the housing to vent the interior of the unit.

trite States oore 1 1 ONVERT1BLE BIRD HOUSE &

FEEDER 22 Filed: Feb. 9, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 224,688

Primary Examingz r l ouis G. Mange r1 g Assistant Examiner-J. N.Eskovitz Attorney-Gerald Altman et a].

l 5 7 1 TRACT A conical shaped housing is provided with an internalpartition dividing the housing into two chambers and formed with acentral opening at its lower portion. A telescopic feeding tube ismounted to the base of the housing and in its lowered position serves asa perch and feeding station for birds when the housing is filled withseeds. The unit is converted into a bird house by emptying it of birdseed, pushing the feeding tube upwardly to close the partition openingand then removing cover plates from access openings formed in the sidesof the housing. A movable lid is provided at the apex of the housing topermit feed to be poured into the housing and cooperates with a cutawayportion of the housing to vent the interior of the unit.

8 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures Patented May 1, 1973 CONVERTIBLE BIRD HOUSE& FEEDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Thisinvention relates generally to bird houses and feeders and moreparticularly is directed towards a squirrel-proof bird feeding stationadjustable to different size seeds and readily convertible to a birdhouse.

2. Description of the Prior Art While there have been available manytypes of bird feeders and bird houses as well as convertible bird housesand feeders, those that have been convertible have lacked simplicity,convenience, durability and a squirrel-proof configuration. Accordingly,it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improvedwild bird station that is quickly and easily convertible from a birdhouse to a bird feeder and back again and one that is virtuallyinaccessible to squirrels. A further object of this invention is toprovide a bird feeding station that is adapted to accommodate a varietyof bird seeds and includes perch adjusting means which is variableaccording to seed size.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention features a convertible birdhouseand bird feeder comprising a conical housing having an open apex coveredby a removable lid through which the housing is filled with seed whenused as a feeder and formed with an internal partition extendingdiametrically across inside of the housing. A bottom wall is detachablyconnected across the base of the conical housing and carries atelescopic feeding tube adapted to be pulled downwardly when the unit isused as a feeder and pushed upwardly when the unit is converted to abird house. In the up position, the feeding tube moves up into anopening formed in the partition to divide the housing into two separatechambers. Openings are formed in the sides of the conical housing, oneinto each side of the partition to provide a double nesting station. Thefeeding tube is adjustable to accommodate different sizes of seeds.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a view in perspective,partly cut away, of a convertible birdfeeder and bird house madeaccording to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a sectional view in side elevation of the unit in a bird housemode, and,

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 but rotated 90 and showing the unitin the bird-feeding mode.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to thedrawings, the reference character generallyindicates a convertible birdhouse and bird feeder made according to the invention and generallyorganized about a conical housing 12 preferably fabricated from sheetmetal such as aluminum, galvanized steel or the like, to provide asmooth, high peaked structure on which a squirrel cannot gain purchase.The apex of the conical housing 12 is cutaway in a somewhat scallopedconfiguration at 14 whereby a concical-shaped lid 16 serves to cover theopen upper end of the housing and yet allow the housing to be vented byvirtue of the cutaway portion.

The housing is suspended by means of a wire 18 formed with an eye 20 atits upper end and a hook portion 22 at its lower end engaging a bale 24the opposite ends of which are hooked onto the upper marginal edges ofthe housing. A frictional ball 26 is fitted over the wire 18 andtypically is provided with a tightly fitting rubber insert to provide ahigh degree of frictional resistance against displacement. The functionof the-ball 26 is to prevent the lid from lifting either under the forceof wind or a squirrel attempting to get into the feeder. The ball may beforced upwardly to permit the lid to be raised for filling the housingwith seeds when used as a feeder.

Across the base of the conical housing 12 is a removable circular bottomwall 28 secured by screws 30 and formed with a central opening 32 toaccommodate a telescopic feeding tube 34 mounted for frictional slidingmovement therein.

Mounted within the housing, vertically across the center line is apartition 36 extending from the base wall 28 up about two-thirds of theheight of the housing and dividing the interior of the housing into twocompartments 38 and 40 to provide two separate nesting chambers forbirds when the unit is used as a bird house. Each compartment isprovided with access openings 42 and 44, respectively, on opposite sidesof the conical housing and which are adapted to be closed by detachablecover plates 46 and 48 when the unit is used as a feeder. The coverplates 46 and 48 typically are of sheet metal stock and are mounted inposition by inserting the lower end of each cover down into the accessopening and securing the upper end of the cover to the housing walls bymeans of a screw 50 aligned with a screw hole 52 which may have a nutbacker. When the unit is in use as a birdhouse, the covers are removedand are conveniently stored within the housing by screwing the same ontothe partition 36 using the same screws. The partition is formed with arectangular opening 54 extending up from the lower edge thereof andslightly wider than the outside diameter of the tubular feeder 34. Thefunction of the opening is to accommodate the feeding tube when in itsraised position shown in FIG. 2. When the feeding tube is raised asshown, the opening 54 is closed off-by the feeding tube effectivelyseparating the two compartments 38 and 40. With the feeding tube downwhen the unit is used as a feeder, the opening 54 provides a clear pathfor the feed to drain down into the feeding tube.

The feeding tube 34 preferably is fabricated of a transparent materialsuch as acrylic plastic or the like whereby the owner may readilyobserve when the supply of feed in the unit is getting low. The tube 34is provided with a cross-piece 56 across its upper end to serve as astop for the tube to prevent it from dropping all the way out of theopening 32. The lower end of the tube 34 is closed by a circular plug 58cemented in position with an annulus 60 secured by a screw 62 to serveas a stop for a collar 64 rotatably mounted over the outside of thelower end of the tube 34. The collar 34 is formed with an outwardlycontoured spout or perch portion 66 on which the birds alight whenfeeding. The spout or perch portion 66 preferably is covered with sandor the like by means of an epoxy cement or other adhesive and serves notonly as a good gripping surface for birds perching thereon but also toact as a repellent to squirrels insofar as squirrels will not normallychew on a sand-covered surface. The outwardly turned perch portionserves to expose one of several circular openings 68 formed in thebottom side walls of the tube 34 and through which the seed in the tubeis made accessible to the birds on the perch. The openings 68 are ofdifferent sizes and the collar 64 may be rotated about the tube to alignthe perch portion with any one of the openings according to the size andtype of the seed in the housing. Where particularly small seed such asthistle seed is used, a small stone may be placed in the tube to preventthe seed from flowing out too freely.

When the unit is to be used as a birdhouse, the seed is emptied out and,if desired, the base 28 may be removed to clean out the interior of thehousing. The cover plates 46 and 48 are removed from the openings 42 and44 and stored on the partition. When the housing is re-assembled thefeeding tube is pushed up to its raised position of FIG. 2 and the unitis in its birdhouse mode. The interior of the housing is fullyventilated not only by the side openings 42 and 44 but also by airpassing in through the feeding tube and up through the top of thehousing.

The unit is readily converted back into a feeder at the end of thenesting season by again removing the base for cleaning, replacing thecover plates over the openings and lowering the feeding tube. The topmay then be raised to fill the unit with seed.

Having thus described the invention whatl claim and desire to obtain byLetters Patents of the United States 1. A convertible bird house andfeeder, comprising a. a conical housing formed with at least a pair ofaccess openings in opposite sides thereof,

a circular bottom wall mounted across the base of said housing,

. an upright partition mounted within said housing to form at least apair of compartments therein,

d said partition being formed with a recessed opening therein startingat the lower edge thereof and extending upwardly therefrom,

e said bottom wall being formed with a central opening in register withsaid recessed opening,

f. a tube telescopically mounted in said central opening and adapted toblock said recessed opening when in a raised position,

g. said tube being open at the upper end and closed at the bottom endthereof and formed with at least one seed opening in the side thereofand a perch adjacent thereto.

2. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 1 wherein theapex of said housing is open and a conical lid is removably mountedthereover.

3. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 2 including anelongated wire extending through the apex of said lid and connected tothe upper portion of said housing.

4. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 3 including anannular retainer frictionally engaging said wire above said lid.

5. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 1 includingcovers detachably connected to said housing over said access openings.

6. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 1 wherein saidtube is formed with a plurality of different size seed openings and saidperch includes an annular collar portion rotatably and concentricallymounted over said tube, said collar portion being formed with anoutwardly extending lip adapted to expose one of said seed openings.

7. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 6 wherein saidlip is covered with an abrasive grit material.

8. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 1 wherein saidtube is transparent.

1. A convertible bird house and feeder, comprising a. a conical housingformed with at least a pair of access openings in opposite sidesthereof, b. a circular bottom wall mounted across the base of saidhousing, c. an upright partition mounted within said housing to form atleast a pair of compartments therein, d said partition being formed witha recessed opening therein starting at the lower edge thereof andextending upwardly therefrom, e said bottom wall being formed with acentral opening in register with said recessed opening, f. a tubetelescopically mounted in said central opening and adapted to block saidrecessed opening when in a raised position, g. said tube being open atthe upper end and closed at the bottom end thereof and formed with atleast one seed opening in the side thereof and a perch adjacent thereto.2. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 1 wherein theapex of said housing is open and a conical lid is removably mountedthereover.
 3. A convertible bird house and feeder according to claim 2including an elongated wire extending through the apex of said lid andconnected to the upper portion of said housing.
 4. A convertible birdhouse and feeder according to claim 3 including an annular retainerfrictionally engaging said wire above said lid.
 5. A convertible birdhouse and feeder according to claim 1 including covers detachablyconnected to said housing over said access openings.
 6. A convertiblebird house and feeder according to claim 1 wherein said tube is formedwith a plurality of different size seed openings and said perch includesan annular collar portion rotatably and concentrically mounted over saidtube, said collar portion being formed with an outwardly extending lipadapted to expose one of said seed openings.
 7. A convertible bird houseand feeder according to claim 6 wherein said lip is covered with anabrasive grit material.
 8. A convertible bird house and feeder accordingto claim 1 wherein said tube is transparent.